Nifty fell 0.34% in the last session as crude and yields pressured Indian equities

Indian exchanges were closed on Monday, September 14, for Ganesh Chaturthi. The latest recorded session was Friday, September 11, when the benchmarks ended lower after recovering from their intraday lows.

Traders attributed the weakness to higher crude prices, elevated global bond yields and continued foreign selling. Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit, said the rise in crude and concerns over a higher global rate environment weighed on equities, while value buying in select IT stocks and a positive European opening helped the market recover during the session.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, HDFC Bank, ITC, Tech Mahindra and Wipro were among the reported Nifty gainers. Hindalco Industries, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Eicher Motors and ONGC were among the reported laggards. The relative resilience of banks was supported by gains in private-bank shares, while IT benefited from value buying. Metals and realty faced greater pressure as commodity, rate and growth concerns remained prominent.

The immediate domestic risk channel is the cost of energy. Brent crude ended the week at $104.61 a barrel after an 8.65% weekly rise, while the rupee weakened to Rs 95.54 per US dollar. Higher imported fuel costs can complicate the inflation outlook and put pressure on sectors with limited pricing power; the market response, however, remains an inference rather than an established causal outcome.

Foreign selling and higher yields added to the valuation pressure. Foreign portfolio investors were net sellers of Rs 1,795 crore in Indian equities in the week ended September 11, while domestic institutions bought shares worth more than Rs 6,400 crore during the week. The contrast suggests domestic flows provided some absorption, but did not remove the sensitivity of Indian equities to global funding conditions.

The Reserve Bank of India said it would sell government securities worth Rs 1 lakh crore through open-market operations over the next two weeks. The first sale of Rs 50,000 crore is scheduled for September 17, followed by two sales of Rs 25,000 crore each on September 21 and September 28. The stated context is surplus banking-system liquidity and short-term rates below the policy repo rate.

Wholesale prices rose 9.92% year-on-year in August, compared with 9.78% in July and economists’ average forecast of 9.89%, according to government data cited by Reuters. Food prices rose 7.05% year-on-year, manufactured-product prices rose 8.37%, and fuel and power prices rose 22.93%. The print matters because it adds to the pressure from energy prices even though it is not the RBI’s headline retail-inflation measure.

SEBI proposed changes to expiry-day settlement and continuous trading arrangements, including alternatives based on volume-weighted average prices and the closing auction session. The consultation is intended to address concerns around expiry-day volatility and settlement-price determination; implementation timing remains uncertain.

The global backdrop remained difficult for emerging-market assets. Asian markets were reported mixed to lower as oil prices rose and the US 10-year Treasury yield remained near 5%. US equities had recovered in the previous session, but US futures were weaker on Monday, while the dollar was firmer.

Market participants were also focused on expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate increase and on geopolitical risks affecting energy supply. For India, the combination of costlier crude, a weaker rupee and higher overseas yields raises the risk of renewed pressure on foreign flows and domestic bond valuations. That is a possible implication, not a confirmed outcome for the next session.

HDFC Bank’s board shortlisted two candidates for the next managing director and chief executive role and plans to submit their names to the RBI for approval. The board also approved an additional whole-time director position, appointed Jimmy Tata as executive director and reappointed V Srinivasa Rangan as executive director.

The RBI rejected Tata Sons’ application to surrender its core investment company registration. The holding company therefore remains subject to the enhanced requirements applicable to an upper-layer NBFC, including a public-listing requirement. No timetable, issue structure or price range for any eventual Tata Sons offering was available.

The primary-market calendar is unusually busy after the holiday. The NSE IPO is scheduled to open on September 17 and close on September 21 as a pure offer for sale, while Hero Motors and SS Retail are scheduled to open on September 16. Raksan Transformers’ issue is scheduled to close on September 15 and list on September 18.

Moneyview reduced the proposed fresh issue to Rs 750 crore from Rs 1,500 crore and cut the offer-for-sale portion to 10.04 crore shares from 13.6 crore shares. Rayzon Solar also reduced its fresh issue to Rs 750 crore. The changes indicate that issuers are calibrating offer sizes even as the primary-market pipeline remains active.